Biological Pest Control

A key belief of the organic gardener is that diversity furthers health. The more variety a landscape has, the more sustainable it is. The organic gardener therefore works to create a system where the insects that are sometimes called pests and the pathogens that cause diseases are not eradicated, but instead are kept at manageable levels by a complex system of checks and balances within a living and vibrant ecosystem .

Contrary to more 'conventional' gardening practices which often use chemical methods to kill both useful and harmful garden life forms indiscriminately, this is a holistic approach that seeks to develop an understanding of the webs of interaction between the myriad of organisms that constitute the garden fauna and flora. The organic gardener will often hold the view for example that the eradication of the creatures that are often described as pests is not only not possible, but also undesirable, for without them the beneficial predatory and parasitic insects which depend upon them as food or hosts would not be able to survive.

In a healthy natural woodland where there is little direct human intervention, pest and disease organisms will always be present, but, unless there is a drastic environmental change, will normally kept in a state of equilibrium where they are not able to get out of hand to a level which is detrimental to the overall woodland community. This is the model for which the sensitive organic gardener will strive, but at the same time it is wise to recognise that there will often be some degree of intervention needed to manipulate the natural checks and balances to the gardener's favour, particularly if growing plants for food or ornament which would not normally occur in natural situations. Therefore biological control is about developing a range of techniques that use living organisms to maintain the beneficial equilibria in garden landscapes without causing adverse effects to humans or the wider environment. Of course, introducing exotic insects into any ecosystem entails taking risks of moving further from the intended equilibrium through unexpected interactions.

An important part of the biological gardening approach is to become familiar with the various life forms that inhabit the garden, predators as well as pests, and also their life cycles, patterns of feeding and the habitats that they prefer.

Insects have devised many ways to eat other insects. Predators will directly attack and devour their prey, whilst parasitoids will deposit an egg within another insects body, from which a larva will emerge which will devour the host's innards.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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